Renton wants to ID creator of cartoon parodies

The city of Renton is going after the anonymous creator of a series of video cartoons that appear to air some of the city’s dirty laundry.

The short animations that are circulating on the internet seem to parody internal police department controversies or investigations, such as a dating relationship between an officer and a suspect and jail politics.

The videos also mock the city for its objection to the cartoons themselves. In one clip, a cartoon female bureaucrat confronts a cartoon police officer, saying: “Internal dirt is internal. The department will take care of certain people and crucify others.”

In another clip, the cartoon cop asks: “Have any rules or policy violations occurred?” The cartoon bureaucrat responds: “No, but the department does not like laundry being aired in public.”

The videos never mention the city or a person by a real name.

KIRO TV reports that the city has filed a document in King County Superior Court, accusing the so far anonymous video creator of cyberstalking, hoping the legal action will help city learn his identity.

City leaders declined to be interviewed. But KIRO 7 talked to advocates for first amendment rights, one calling the legal action an “abuse of power” and another calling the move “a serious stretch.”